Prosecutors have given Imran Awan a copy of the hard drive of a House laptop that Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz tried to keep law enforcement from looking at:

Prosecutors have given Imran Awan a copy of the hard drive of a House laptop that Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz tried to keep law enforcement from looking at, court filings show, suggesting prosecutors intend to bring charges related to the underlying cybersecurity and theft probe. The hard-drive copy was included in discovery even though Wasserman Schultz has said the laptop contains House information on it and is a government-paid work laptop, and even though Imran was fired and banned from the House network because of suspected cybersecurity violations.

Imran left the laptop, with username RepDWS, in a phone booth in circumstances that suggest that it was not accidentally forgotten there. Alongside it, he left a copy of his ID and letters to the U.S. attorney that ensured it would be treated as evidence instead of simply returned as a missing laptop.

Imran entered a House office building the night of April 6, two months after he was banned by House authorities from touching its network, and placed the laptop, a copy of his ID, and letters to the US Attorney in a phone booth, according to a police report. There would be little reason to enter the phone booth, and it would be difficult to forget items there.

Imran also left in the phone booth a notebook that said “attorney client privilege,” which could be a reason why prosecutors gave Imran’s lawyer a copy of what could be Wasserman Schultz’s laptop. Prosecutors said they were giving him a copy under the legal process of discovery, in which defendants have a right to evidence being used against them.

He has only been charged with bank-fraud crimes related to trying to flee the country with cash, which is why its inclusion in discovery suggests prosecutors intend to bring charges related to the underlying cybersecurity and theft probe. Imran’s lawyer, Wasserman Schultz, and many in the media have said the misconduct involving Imran goes no further than bank fraud, but the timeline makes clear that a serious criminal investigation into those House issues was the impetus for those moves, and the notebook also included “case details” and letters about “the apparent owner of the bag being investigated,” well before he was accused of bank fraud.

Prosecutors gave Imran a copy of the laptop found in a phone booth / Federal court records-

Wasserman Schultz frantically fought to stop police from looking at the laptop’s hard drive. For more than two months, police had been telling her they suspected him of cybersecurity breaches, including what she called “data transfer violations,” but she maintained that she thought the police were picking on him and wanted to protect his “due process” — even though she knew how serious cyberbreaches can be because she was head of the DNC when its emails were released last year.